


Don't Forget About the Music We Make

by TeriyakiWritingDesk



Series: Minecraft Universe [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Music, Band Fic, Battle of the Bands, El Rapids, Fluff, Friendship, LMAO, Post-Manberg-Pogtopia War on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), tommy is exiled
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28463475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeriyakiWritingDesk/pseuds/TeriyakiWritingDesk
Summary: “This is so cool!” Karl added as he grabbed the flyer straight from Quackity’s hands. He skimmed over it, eyeing it like a hawk.” Are you saying we sign up?” George questioned.“HELL YEAH!” Quackity cheered.” WE’RE GONNA WIN THIS SHIT!”El Rapids has been through a lot, they all just want to have fun again. So when Quackity finds a flyer saying that there will be a server-wide battle of the bands , he doesn't hesitate in signing his friends up for the competition.
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap, Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs, Dream SMP Ensemble/Dream SMP Ensemble, El Rapids - Relationship, GeorgeNotFound/Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Karl Jacobs & Sapnap, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: Minecraft Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2084889
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. All In

The stairs to El Rapids were longer than they looked. They stretched far above the ground and bent over into a hill looming over the small lake next to L’Manberg. Soft green grass covered them as they swayed with the wind, whistling through the leaves of the tall redwood trees.

Quackity gasped as he ran up to El Rapids. At first, he sprinted up the hill as fast as he could but soon resulted into a very slow and sloppy jog. He cursed at himself for using up all his energy so quickly, but kept at it anyways. He wiped away at the sweat dripping down from his beanie-covered head with his right arm, stumbling a bit as he did so.

“Just… a bit.. further..!”

A wide smile creeped it’s way onto his face as he heard the voices of his friends get louder and louder the closer he got. He heaved a sigh of relief, before suddenly falling onto his face. The pain slapped at him making him wince and squinted his eyes to avoid the dirt he was now facing. He looked down at his feet and frowned realizing that he tripped on his shoelace. 

“Big Q?! You there?”

Quackity groaned as he got back up to his feet. He blocked the sun from hurting his eyes with her hand and squinted to try and see who the voice was.

“Yeah yeah I’m here I’m coming!”

He continued running up the last blocky stairs and whipped his head around for a few moments, moving his dark hair to the side to get a better view.

“Big Q!”

“WHAT?!”

“Over here!”

Turning, he spotted his three friends and fellow El Rapids members standing at the edge of the land. They all were waving their hands high in the air, gesturing to come over.

“EYYYY EVERYONE!!!” Quackity yelled as he ran over to them. They all laughed and greeted him. He leaned over and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath while the three questioned why he called them together.

10 minutes earlier:

“Hey! Is Big Q here yet?” George asked once he arrived at El Rapids.” No, me and Karl actually just got here.” Sapnap answered. On his right side, Karl sat at the edge of El Rapids with his feet dangling off the side. He leaned his head against Sapnap’s shoulder as they waited for Quackity to arrive.

“So?! What’s up??” Karl asked eagerly.” Why’d you call us together?”

Quackity let out a low and steady laugh as he stood back up.” Listen up gang!” He announced, rubbing his hands together in preparation. Reaching into his pant’s pocket, he pulled out a piece of paper and rolled it out in his hands. Karl, George, and Sapnap all leaned in closer itching to know what he was about to say. 

“Dream SMP Battle of the Bands on the 23rd at 8pm GMT! Sign up now!” Quackity read aloud. 

Everything went quiet, the three all had their mouths hanging wide open. "Wait, is this real?” Sapnap asked first, breaking the silence..” Dream never told me about this.”

“I just saw it when I was walking through the server, it was hung up on one of the builds.”

“Which one?”

“I don’t fucking know.”

“This is so cool!” Karl added as he grabbed the flyer straight from Quackity’s hands. He skimmed over it, eyeing it like a hawk.” Are you saying we sign up?” George questioned.

“HELL YEAH!” Quackity cheered.” WE’RE GONNA WIN THIS SHIT!”

Karl applauded with him jumping up and down with new adrenaline coursing through his veins. George and Sapnap stood there, watching the two friends ramble on about how they would perform.

“We can have a smoke machine! Ooh, and really bright spotlights, and glitter-”

“I CAN BUY A REALLY EXPENSIVE GUITAR AND SMASH IT ON STAGE!”

“Guys!” George yelled at the top of his lungs grabbing back Quackity and Karl’s attention.” We don’t have any songs or instruments.”

“I can sing, write a song and play guitar. What do you mean we don’t have anything? We got me!” Quackity explained with a wide grin across his face.

Sapnap rolled his eyes,” Dumbass, what about us? What are we gonna do?”

“Well we’ll need drums, a bass, maybe either a second guitar or a keyboard-”

“Okay, but who of us is gonna play those instruments??” George spoke up cutting off Quackity. He gazed up at the sky tapping his finger on his chin. His mind trying to generate as many ideas as he could. George and Sapnap watched waiting for an answer, while Karl was pacing around in his own world.

“WE COULD JUST WING IT! WE COULD TOTALLY WIN ANYWAYS!”

“Yeah!” Karl encouraged punching his fist in the air.

“I mean, that’s not the worst idea in the world….” Sapnap trailed off as he considered the possibilities. He wondered what might happen at the competition, but was more suspicious of why Dream would hold such an event. To get everyone on more friendly terms? Or was he going to stage an attack?

George was suspicious as well. He knows that Dream is always up to something, but at the same time, he couldn’t think of a definitive way a Battle of the Bands would benefit him. If it was just him he wouldn’t do this, but after seeing how excited Karl and Quackity were about the idea, robbing them of this opportunity would just be wrong.

Then all of a sudden, a lightbulb clicked.

Sapnap and George turned and looked at each other, both knowing what the other was thinking. They nodded together before facing back to Quackity and Karl who went back to discussing plans for the band.” Look,” George began,” We’ll do this, but it has to be for the clout.”

“Wait what-”

“It has to be a really good performance. Sure, we got El Rapids on the map, but this would be on a whole other level!” George rambled on as Quackity and Karl nodded with him.

“That is genius!” Karl agreed.” HELL YEAH GEORGE! I KNEW YOU WOULD GET IT!” Quackity approved.

“Do you realize how dumb you are all being?” Sapnap yelled over them.” We’re walking into something that is unpredictable! Who knows what might happen?”

“Dude this is a Battle of the Bands how can it be dangerous?” Karl asked, tilting his head.

“Well it’s Dream we’re talking about” Sapnap responded

“YEAH AND WE’RE EL RAPIDS BABY!!!”

“Oh my god.”

“Sapnap,” George said, putting a hand on Sapnap’s shoulder,” I get that you’re worried, I am too. But do you know how satisfying it will be to show off to everyone how cool we are. Think of the clout…..”

“YEAH THAT’S THE SPIRIT!” Quackity cheered.

Sapnap stared at his three friends almost bewildered at their stupidity. They all paused waiting for his approval, the silence felt foreign after the buzz of noise that was all around them just before. He gazed down at his feet, pulling at the end of his white shirt over and over again.

“Come on man! It will be fun! Nothing is going to happen, we’ll make sure of it!” Karl reassured, Quackity and George nodded in agreement. 

“WE’RE GONNA BE THE STARS OF THE FUCKING SHOW!” Quackity screamed followed by Karl and George joining in. Sapnap watched deadpanned. He knew his friends were almost always stupid, but it was only a matter of time before it would get them in trouble. Still, once Quackity has his mind set on something, he isn’t going to back down. 

“I’m not going to be able to get them out of this one am I…” Sapnap hushed under his breath making the cheering three poke their heads up at him.” You know what, fine! I’ll go along with this! But it better be fucking good.”

“HELL YEAH!!!” They screamed in unison,” EL RAPIDS FOR LIFE!”

“El Rapids for life!” Sapnap cheered.


	2. Talk Too Much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new band have their first meeting. But when they haven't even gotten instruments yet, they still find a way to fight. Good thing Karl Jacobs has it under control!

Karl leaped into his bed and stared up at the ceiling above him. It was oddly silent compared to most nights in the SMP, especially in L’Manberg and El Rapids. But he wouldn’t have it any other way. Karl’s eyelids were fighting to close so that he could drift off to sleep, but he was way too excited. After everything the group discussed today, it would be inhuman to go to sleep normally.

Earlier that day...

“ALRIGHT! I NOW COMMENCE THE FIRST EL RAPIDS BAND MEETING!” Quackity announced as he pulled out his guitar. It looked shiny and polished, not a speck of dust in sight. He reached to the tuning pegs and tweaked them a bit before strumming all the strings with his right hand, releasing a loud sound that just felt right. Even to Karl, who has never played a guitar correctly before.

“Okay, so we need to decide which instruments we’re going to play correct?” George asked, earning a hum and a nod from everyone as a response.” We already got Big Q on guitar, electric or acoustic?”  
“Hm, well for writing the song I should use an acoustic. But when performing I’ll use an electric because it sounds WAY COOLER!” Quackity answered.

“Alright, well who will be on drums? And where will we find an actually big ass drum set?” George asked again. Silence fell around them as they sat in a circle on the lush green grass that covered all of El Rapids. It was a warmer day than usual, the sun shone right at them and with no shade covering the land except the Blackstone pyramid that Sapnap built they were forced to endure it. Karl previously asked if they could go inside, but Sapnap hadn’t lit it up with torches yet so mobs were lurking everywhere.

“Well,” Sapnap spoke up,” I used to play drums, but I’m not sure how much I remember.”

“DO YOU HAVE A DRUM KIT?” 

“I can find it I guess?”

“WE’LL TAKE IT!”

“Whoo! Progress!” George smiled as he jotted down a note on his phone of who was doing what.” When do you think you can get it?”

“Uh, I’ll look around for it later.”

“You better not forget that.” George muttered under his breath secretly glaring at Sapnap before going back to the notes on his phone. If it wasn’t for his goggles blocking his eyes from everyone, Sapnap would’ve been able to see.” Alright, next on the list we got bass.”

“Karl? Can you do that?” Sapnap asked, turning to his right where Karl sat. He was too focused on making a daisy chain with the flowers he picked off the ground.” Karl?” Sapnap repeated.

Karl whipped his head up and turned to face back at the group.” Hey guys what’s up?”

Sapnap laughed and held his hand out for the daisy chain. But instead of giving it to him, Karl got up on his knees and lightly wrapped it around Sapnap’s head, being careful not to snap it in half. The chain was only a few daisys short from fitting around Sapnap’s head, so Karl sat back down and got back to work, making Sapnap smile.

“Karl focus!” George said. Karl looked up again, pausing his work on the daisy chain.” Can you play bass guitar?”

“Uhh, my brother might be able to teach me. I know he might have one!” 

“I don’t know, it depends on how fast you can learn it. It’s easier to learn than a guitar, but harder to play.” Quackity sighed,” If you work hard enough and practice you could probably be able to play in a group but it will be a lot of work, you think you can do it?”

Karl paused and thought about how much time he would have to dedicate. It can’t be that hard, right?

Sapnap saw the hesitation all over Karl’s face. If he was trying to hide it from him, he was doing a terrible job.” Hey, you got this Karl! You can totally do this!” He said, putting a hand on Karl’s shoulder.” You sure?” Karl wondered, looking up at Sapnap’s eyes.” You got this Karl!” George spoke up.” HELL YEAH KARLOS!” Quackity cut in.

“Alright! I’ll do it!”

“YOU’RE POPPING OFF!”

“I’m popping off!” Karl smiled.

“Karl is on bass! Let's go!” Sapnap said, turning back to George as he typed it on his phone.  
” What is your role gonna be, dipshit?” He smirked making George’s glare get more furious. He rolled his eyes and leaned back holding his weight up with his hands on the ground behind him. Quackity was strumming his guitar playing various chords to come up with a progression while Karl was back to work on his daisy chain.” Obviously the most important role,” George rolls his eyes,” the leader of course.”

“... WHAT THE FUCK GEORGE!” Quackity screamed, gripping his guitar tightly in his hand. Karl erupted into laughter and was cackling on the ground along with Sapnap. Both heavily amused by George’s statement.” WHAT DO YOU MEAN LEADER? THAT OBVIOUSLY BELONGS TO ME!” Quackity rebutted.

“No no no, who’s the one who has been keeping track of everything and keeping everyone in line?” George smirked as Quackity arched an eyebrow.” Me! I did all that! That is the textbook definition of what a leader should be!”

“WELL WHO’S GONNA WRITE THE SONGS ASSHOLE?!” Quackity screamed. Karl and Sapnap started getting a bit concerned and had their attention turned back at the two arguing. Quackity’s scream struck a chord inside Karl making him uneasy, Sapnap spotted it too. The part that got them confused was that Quackity’s smile still stretched across his face like normal.

“Well you, you don’t have to write songs to be the leader.” George leaned back further crossing his legs.” Besides, I don’t think you could handle being a leader anyways.”

“I’M THE PRESIDENT OF EL RAPIDS MOTHERFUCKER-”

“Okay that’s enough!” Karl got up from the ground and stood in the middle of the fight. Quackity had leaped up and trudged towards George before Karl could stop him. Not being able to see George’s full face pissed off Quackity even more. George still sat on the ground, but had his head turned up at Quackity. The glare in his eyes invisible to his friends around him. “You two need to stop fighting!” Karl insisted.

“Big Q was the one who started the fight! I was just sitting here-”

“BITCH DON’T PLAY THE FUCKING VICTIM HERE!”

“But I am! You just started screaming out of nowhere-”

“I’M ALWAYS SCREAMING!” 

Sapnap rolled his eyes. He knew this whole idea wasn’t going to work out, before he thought it would be because of Dream, but now the group itself will be its downfall. He relaxed, watching it all playout in front of him.

“Nope! Both of you need to shut it right now!” Karl stomped his foot on the ground, not making much of an impact.” We haven’t even fully formed the band yet and we’re already fighting!”

“Big Q started-”

“George be quiet!” Small giggles came from Sapnap after Karl cut George off. Even George himself stood a bit shocked.” You both want the same thing, the safety of the band. Right?”

Quackity looked over to his side, so did George. An awkward silence fell upon the group once again as the two thought about why they were fighting in the first place.

“You do know George wears those weird ass glasses right? There’s no eye contact to avoid, dumbasses.” Sapnap exclaimed, making both George and Quackity’s faces turn red. Karl was having a hard time staying serious as a few small giggles managed to escape from his mouth.

“FINE! I JUST WANT THE BAND TO BE ALRIGHT!” Quackity admitted.

“Me too…” George muttered. 

“It’s just! George, how can you be a leader when you don’t even know that much about music?! I know you’re organized and can make plans for us-”

“Even though he sleeps through all of them- OW!” Karl cried as a hard kick from George cut him off.

“But what about the music side of things? How will you do that?” Quackity finished, not before laughing at Karl for a moment.

George spoke up next, “Well I thought you could do that! I mean, you’re really easily distracted, loud, slightly annoying, you make fun of people a lot-”

“ARE YOU TRYING TO EXPOSE ME?! GET TO THE FUCKING POINT!”

“I think you just found it…” George muttered under his breath.

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY?!”

“Nothing.”

“See! That’s what we can do!” Karl smiled through the chaos.” You two can both be the leaders! Quackity will handle the music parts, and George can handle literally everything else!”

“I see nothing wrong with this!” Sapnap added.

Quackity’s gaze softened, the grip he had on his guitar relaxed. George uncrossed his legs and stared down at the ground. Silence filled the air once again, until Sapnap started to the whistle a tune. Completely dazed from what’s going on around him.

“Sapnap, you are one of my best friends. But for the love of god shut the fuck up.” George snapped. Sapnap snickered.” Fine fine…” He sighed.

“So? What do you two think?” Karl asked with a hint a desperation in his voice.” Eh…..” George hummed as he considered the idea.” I mean, it’s definitely not the worst idea Karl has ever had!”

“That’s true..” George whispered in response.

“What’s that supposed to mean-”

“Could you guys settle already? I wanna play some drums!” Sapnap whined.

“SHUT UP!” The three yelled in unison.

Quackity let out a sigh and took a few steps past Karl closer to George.” George, you up for it?” He said extending a hand out towards him. George stared at it for a bit, before sighing and grabbing Quackity’s hand.” You know what, why not.” George smiled. He pulled himself up from the ground and as they both shook hands in agreement, Karl let out a loud cheer.

“YES! I SETTLED A FIGHT!”

“LET'S GO KARL!” Quackity laughed. Sapnap laughed along with them, making George’s glare disappear from his eyes completely. Karl had a way of doing that, lighting up the mood. Whether intentional or completely oblivious to it, it always made George happy.

“I think we should end our meeting here, we got a lot done!” George spoke up.

“No, we really didn’t.” Sapnap interjected.

“Sapnap, what did I say about shutting the fuck up?”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

Boom, Karl’s happy mood can only be countered with the utter annoyance that is Sapnap.

“We can come back to this tomorrow, right?” Karl wondered. 

“Well yeah, but we’ll need to start working on a song soon.” Quackity said as he packed up his guitar, disappointed that he wasn’t able to use it today.

“Sapnap! Go find those drums. Karl! Get yourself a bass.”

“Right!” The two shouted much louder than necessary.

“OKAY EVERYONE, THE FIRST EL RAPIDS BAND MEETING IS NOW ADJOURNED!” Quackity announced, erupting in an applaud from the whole group.” Sick, I’mma go annoy Bad now!”

“Can I join you?” George poked Quackity's shoulder following close behind him as they began their stroll down the El Rapids stairs.

“The more the merrier!”

As Quackity’s voice faded away from earshot, Karl was about to leave when he felt a light tap on the head from someone behind him. He hummed and turned his head only to be met by Sapnap’s hand outstretched with the daisy chain from earlier laying in the middle of his palm.

“You dropped this!” Sapnap said, rubbing a hand behind his head.

Karl smiled and asked, "You’ll be playing drums aren’t you?”

“Not until I find them!” The two shared a laugh, before Karl gently took the daisy chain from Sapnap’s hand and held it safely in his own.

“Great!” Sapnap smiled as he turned away towards the stairs.” See ya later Karl!” He called out along with a small wave.

“ Bye Sapnap!” Karl yelled waving back. 

As Karl reflected on his day, he fiddled with the daisy chain with his hands outstretched in front of him. He felt complete, like he did something important. He knew deep down that El Rapids would never be the same after this day!

But no, Karl wasn’t done yet. None of El Rapids was. He had an instrument to learn, and a band to play with. He wasn’t sure if he could really accomplish that before, but now, he felt like he   
could do anything. He turned on his side and placed the daisy chain into a small chest next to his bed making sure absolutely nothing would be able to break it, and with a smile, tucked himself into bed and drifted off to sleep, ready for whatever new event tomorrow would bring him.

“Sapnap!” Karl called out the next day as he approached the brunette the next day. The sun had just risen into the sky, light peaking through the clouds and shining down on the two. The cold and humid morning breeze sent a shiver up Karl’s spine. Sapnap turned his head over his shoulder and looked back at Karl.

“You’re here early.” He put down the torch he held in his hands and faced Karl.” Meeting starts at noon.”

“Well what are you doing then?” Karl asked.

“Finishing the pyramid, we should probably add more buildings here. We can’t keep sitting outside forever!” Sapnap laughed.

Karl smiled and slowly stepped forward. Sapnap watched as he got on his toes and placed something around his head. Once Karl was done, he reached his hand up and felt around, He could make out the shape of petals and stems tied together.” Karl, you finished it?!”

“Yup! I also made some for everyone else, I was hoping maybe something like that could be part of what we wear on stage!” Karl answered.” I’m probably thinking way too into this, but we can always come back to it, I guess..”

“Well, I think my bandana is enough for me. But I’ll help you with everyone else if you want?” Sapnap suggested.

“Do you not like it?” Karl frowned, his mood dropping significantly.

“No no no, I love it! But, maybe it would look better on George or Quackity.” Sapnap said, trying to save the conversation.

Karl sighed.” Well, if you don’t like it I won’t stop you. But you need to promise that you’ll pay attention in meetings more!”

“Fine fine, I will.” Sapnap agreed, earning a smile from Karl in return.” We should wait for everyone to get here, I guess.” 

“Yeah.” Karl replied as he walked over and sat at a spot on the pyramid.

“I’m gonna get back to building- Are you really just not gonna help?”

“Yup!”


End file.
